September 18-20, 2017 - Ljubljana, Slovenia

COL President delivers opening statement and presents the results of the regional consultations.

The 2nd World Open Educational Resources (OER) Congress opened in Ljubjana, Slovenia, on 18 September 2017. The Commonwealth of Learning’s President and CEO, Professor Asha Kanwar, addressed the Congress in conjunction with H.E. Dr Milan Brglez, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr Getachew Engida, Deputy Director General, UNESCO, Mr Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, and Ms Irina Bokova, Director General, UNESCO.

Professor Kanwar said: “It is an honour for the Commonwealth of Learning to be in partnership with UNESCO and the Government of Slovenia for the second World OER Congress, especially since COL and UNESCO organized the first World OER Congress five years ago in Paris, and this time Slovenia is a key partner. We are very privileged to have the leadership of the Hon Maya Makovec Brenčič, Minister of Education Science and Sport from the very beginning. We are also very grateful to our dear colleagues in UNESCO, Slovenia and the Hewlett Foundation for their strong support and valuable contributions.”

COL organised six Regional Consultations on OER around the world in the lead up to the Congress. Professor Kanwar presented the results from the consultations as well as two surveys, a government survey and a stakeholder survey, completed within the framework of the 2nd World OER Congress. The results of the consultations and surveys are now available in Open Educational Resources: Global Report 2017, along with an accompanying report, Open Educational Resources: From Commitment to Action, detailing a series of concrete actions that OER stakeholders must take in order to mainstream OER.

Reflecting on the changes to the OER movement since the first World OER Congress, Professor Kanwar said: “In 2012, our main objective was to foster governmental support for OER internationally. Today we want to involve many more stakeholders so that OER can be mainstreamed and implemented at all levels. Five years ago, the focus was on promoting policy development but as we know that is not enough–we need strategies for implementing policies. At that time, the primary objective was to seek governmental commitment. This time we are moving beyond commitment to concrete action for achieving the education and training goals of Member States.”She highlighted a recommendation that relates to the development of a normative instrument which could help governments to harness the potential of OER, saying, “There is a huge opportunity for both COL and UNESCO to help Member States to take full advantage of the OER movement to effect the paradigm shift required to achieve the targets of SDG 4.”​The 2nd World OER Congress continues until 20 September and includes a Virtual OER Congress, which can be accessed at http://www.oercongress.org/vico/.

Translated by The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization - ALECSO​www.alecso.org.tn

Translated by The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization - ALECSO​www.alecso.org.tn

The Commonwealth of Learning’s (COL) newest publication Open Educational Resources: Global Report 2017 is a review of the status of open educational resources (OER) worldwide. The report, which will be officially launched at the 2nd World OER Congress on 18 September 2017, is the result of two global surveys and six regional consultations, organised by COL in collaboration with UNESCO and the Government of Slovenia and with support from the Hewlett Foundation, in preparation for the 2nd World OER Congress.Open Educational Resources: Global Report 2017 presents the findings of the two surveys and analyses the discussions in the regional consultations to provide an overview of the status of OER within the framework of the 2012 Paris OER Declaration, which resulted from the first World OER Congress.

“The report is a rich source of information that will help shape our strategies and approaches to mainstreaming OER in the future. There has been growing interest in OER since the 2012 Paris OER Declaration. Many more countries are now considering the development and adoption of OER policies,” said Professor Asha Kanwar, President and CEO of COL.

The report is accompanied by the publication Open Educational Resources: From Commitment to Action, which presents a series of concrete actions that OER stakeholders must take in order to mainstream OER, as identified by consultation participants. Participants at the 2nd World OER Congress will consider these two reports along with UNESCO’s draft for the Ljubljana OER Action Plan in their discussions. These three documents are complementary and provide a framework for both understanding the current status of OER worldwide and identifying concrete actions to mainstream OER to achieve SDG4.